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CAL-­‐EARTH
DOMES
by
Sharis
Daneri
Delgadillo
A
Professional
Project
Presented
to
the
FACULTY
OF
THE
USC
GRADUATE
SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY
OF
SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
In
Partial
Fulfillment
of
the
Requirements
for
the
Degree
MASTER
OF
ARTS
(BROADCAST
JOURNALISM)
December
2011
Copyright
2011
Sharis
Daneri
Delgadillo

Bob Lien, Mark Reppert, and Lisa Starr are building earth domes using Super Adobe technology in San Bernardino County’s Mojave Desert. It’s a building method that uses only earth, bags, and barbed wire. The Super Adobe technique was developed by the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture, a non-profit organization in the City of Hesperia. The organization’s original focus was to develop a way to build emergency and semi-permanent shelters in third world countries for people who have little access to resources. But it has now become a recent trend for alternative housing in Southern California. ❧ The documentary will explore the economic and environmental incentives that drove these three southern Californian residents to build residential domes. Interviews with experts such as the San Bernardino County Official from the Building and Safety Department and a professor and structural engineer from the University of Southern California describe how the owners must first comply with California’s rigorous building seismic codes for the construction to even begin. ❧ The purpose of this piece is to document the first Super Adobe domes builders in the United States who have been successful in complying with the United States and California’s building codes. It also touches upon the economic hardships that caused these American owners to build an earthen home that’s intended to be used for third world refugees.

The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

CAL-­‐EARTH
DOMES
by
Sharis
Daneri
Delgadillo
A
Professional
Project
Presented
to
the
FACULTY
OF
THE
USC
GRADUATE
SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY
OF
SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
In
Partial
Fulfillment
of
the
Requirements
for
the
Degree
MASTER
OF
ARTS
(BROADCAST
JOURNALISM)
December
2011
Copyright
2011
Sharis
Daneri
Delgadillo